John McKnight MEGA Episode

Today, we are re-releasing a three-episode series in one MEGA episode! Hosts Adam and Matt sit down with, quite literally, the founder of asset-based community development, John McKnight.

Today, we are re-releasing a three-episode series in one MEGA episode! Hosts Adam and Matt sit down with, quite literally, the founder of asset-based community development, John McKnight.

John began community organizing when he was in his early twenties, and since then, he has done everything from training Barack Obama in community organizing to developing an entirely new model of community development. This model that he developed is of course asset-based community development, or ABCD, and we, the Neighboring Movement, consider ourselves asset-based community developers. That being said, John has always been a hero of ours, and over the years, we have followed his work closely and been deeply inspired and influenced by his practices. He is incredibly kind, absolutely brilliant, and a gifted teacher who always tells the perfect story in order to illustrate a point. We are so very honored that John was willing to sit down on the front porch with us, and we are so excited to share these next three episodes with you all!

In the first episode, John introduces what ABCD is, talks about what asset-based community developers seek to do, and explains how ABCD differs from needs-based approaches. He then details the first two of the five categories of assets that all communities possess. 

In the second episode, John starts by detailing the last three of the five categories of assets that all communities possess and that he started describing in Part 1. Then, he details what the work of asset-based community developers looks like moving forward and how we as citizens gain power. Of course, all of this is interspersed with incredible stories, and we are so excited for you to hear them! As one final note, this episode is dedicated to all of our Canadian neighbors out there; we have been referring to this episode as the "Canada rocks!" episode, and you will soon see why. 

In the third episode, John starts by talking about the importance of fostering cultures of connectedness and community consciousnesses. Intrigued already? Yeah, he has that effect on people....The episode only gets crazier from there, too! Next, John outlines how people, in association, can own their power and ask three simple questions in order to start producing their future together. To end it all, he tells one of our favorite stories of his, and then, it is get-up-and-go time! There is a call to action here, and you are invited to join in this work!

As one final note, thank you for joining us for this series that has been a dream of ours to produce. John's work is incredible, so please check it all out! Here are some resources:

• His website - Here you can learn more about John and access his learnings, publications, videos, and blogs.

• His institute

• His blog

Claire Branstetter: Neighboring with Language Barriers

Hello friend! Thank you, as always, for joining us on the virtual front porch! This week, we had the honor of interviewing Claire Branstetter, and in this episode, Claire presents practical advice on how to neighbor when language barriers are present. ¡Disfrutar!

Among so much more, Claire is an incredibly kind person with a true passion, and gift, for welcoming the stranger. Claire actually used to be one of our previous Neighboring Movement interns, but she now does beautiful work with a refugee resettlement organization where she companions refugees as they become integrated in our town of Wichita. We are so honored that she was willing to sit down with us and share some of her deep wisdom! Claire speaks multiple different languages and has tons of experience communicating with people who speak different languages than she does, so in today's episode, she shares advice on how to neighbor when language barriers are present. These barriers are real, and we are so thankful for Claire's very practical tips on how to address them!

Neighboring Tip - Wear a Mask

Hosts Adam and Matt sit down on the virtual front porch with Kristopher in order to talk through this week's neighboring tip: Wear a mask. (Yes, wearing a mask is also just good for neighboring!)

This week's episode, like our other neighboring tip episodes, presents a simple experiment for connecting with your neighbors - even in the midst of a pandemic. We hope you not only enjoy listening to this episode but also experiment with the tip presented, and we hope these ideas might be helpful for doing so!

A John McKnight Story for Our Time

This week, we're switching things up a little bit! In this episode, John McKnight tells a story about his childhood neighboring, and then hosts Adam and Matt respond to the story.

If you've heard John tell a story, then you'll know you're in for a treat! John McKnight is one of the co-founders of asset-based community development and a hero of ours. At the end of March, we interviewed John for the podcast and turned the fantastic interview he gave us into three episodes; you will definitively want to tune in to John McKnight (Part One, Two, and Three) if you have not already! We have also had the extreme honor to take part in coaching calls with John over the last several months. He is an incredible teacher and storyteller, as all of his podcast episodes attest, and these coaching calls have been so incredible! The story you are about to hear is one that John told Adam and Matt on one of their calls, but we think it's so fitting for life in the midst of this pandemic that we've decided to give it it's own episode. Enjoy!

P.S. You will definitely want to check out some of John's astounding work! Here are some resources to get you started...

• His website - Here you can learn more about John and access his learnings, publications, videos, and blogs.

• His institute

• His blog

Self Care in the Midst of COVID-19

Good day, friends! Today, hosts Adam and Matt sit down on their virtual front porches in order to talk about where we're at in this pandemic and discuss ideas on how we can take care of ourselves in the midst of it.

While Adam and Matt are not licensed therapists or counselors, Adam does work around social and emotional intelligence, and Matt does spiritual direction, so they have some thoughts to share around practicing good self care in the midst of this time. We hope these thoughts sow some seeds for you and that you enjoy this episode!

The Gappers, Our Coronavirus Response (Part 2)

We're back with another episode on the gappers! Our newest project is taking off, so this week, hosts Adam and Matt sit down to discuss the project a bit more. Tune in to learn more!

Two weeks ago, we introduced this new project on our podcast with an episode titled "The Gappers, Our Coronavirus Response". If you have not yet had a chance to listen to that episode, we would highly recommend doing so before listening to this one! In this episode, Adam and Matt expand more upon the project and use a metaphor in order to describe what we mean by "the gap".

Basically, at the Neighboring Movement, we don't want to go back to pre-coronavirus normal. Because we can do so much better than that! We believe a new normal is coming and that everyone on the planet has the opportunity to work together in order to create this new normal. So, we started the gappers! The gappers is an experimental community of people who are simply longing for a new normal and willing to work towards that new normal. This community gathers and shares stories and tips around this gapping work in order to encourage one another and learn from one another. Are you a gapper, and would you like to take part in this community? If so, that's awesome, and you can click here in order to learn more about the gappers and sign up! We also have a gappers Facebook page that you can join by clicking here.

Go forth and stand in the gap between what is coming and what has been!

Neighboring Tip - Neighboring in the Time of Coronavirus

Greetings, all! This week, we're putting a little twist on our regular neighboring tip episode in order to address COVID-19. For this episode, hosts Adam and Matt sit down on the front porch with Kristopher to talk through this week's tip: Brainstorm ways you can be a good neighbor during this coronavirus pandemic, and then pick one of these ways, and do it this week.

This week's episode, like our other neighboring tip episodes, presents a simple experiment for connecting with your neighbors - but this one directly addresses the pandemic we are all experiencing. We hope you not only enjoy listening to this episode but also experiment with the tip presented, and we hope these ideas might be helpful for doing so!

Justin Moore: Neighboring for Health

For this week, we're spotlighting a previously released episode from June of 2019 in which hosts Adam and Matt sat down on the front porch with researcher and physician, Justin Moore. In this interview, Justin presents the fact that neighboring makes us healthier.

Justin practices medicine in various community-oriented ways, and he also researches the impacts of social isolation and loneliness on physical health. In this powerful episode, Justin shares surprising statistics before giving enlightening advice on how we can all start neighboring for health!

Catherine's Porch Ponderings - Palaces for the People

This week, we're pumped to present a new series: Catherine's Porch Ponderings! Periodically, Catherine Johnson will pop in on the podcast in order to ponder various subjects on the porch with producers Adam and Matt!

For this first episode, Catherine ponders Eric Klinenberg's book Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life. Having read the book recently, Catherine presents and ponders some of Eric's main points and his case for the extreme importance of social infrastructure. We are so honored to be able to ponder on the porch with Catherine, and what she draws out of the book is so illuminating. We are so psyched to share this episode with you all!

If you would like to learn more about Eric's work, or read Palaces for the People, please visit Eric's website: https://www.ericklinenberg.com/

2020 is here...and so is The Neighbor Next Door!

2020 is here! For the first episode of 2020, hosts Adam and Matt sit down on the front porch with Richard Ruth, a fellow Wichitan doing incredible neighboring work.

In this episode, Richard outlines some of his neighboring journey before talking about his approach to civic AND civil engagement. Richard is a passionate neighboring practitioner, and in this interview, he also explains a lot of the theory behind why he does what he does. This interview was very thought-provoking for us, and we hope it is for you, as well!

Our second conversation with Lisse Regehr is now available!

Greetings, friends! In this episode, hosts Adam and Matt return to the front porch for a second conversation with the President and CEO of Thrive Allen County, Lisse Regehr.

If you have not yet listened to Adam and Matt's first conversation with Lisse, we would encourage doing so before listening to this episode. In that first conversation, Lisse tells the story of her organization and their approach to community development, which provides a perfect foundation for the stories you are about to hear. The episode with the first conversation is titled, "Lisse Regehr (Part 1): The Story of a Thriving Organization".

Now, welcome to Part 2! In this conversation, Lisse tells some amazing stories that have blossomed forth from the Allen County community before giving advice on how you can continue to work to make your community a better place. We hope you enjoy! And, if you have not yet had a chance, please check out Thrive's website to learn more about their amazing work!

Episode 7 has landed!

This week, we are delving into the relationship between neighboring and community health, as we are honored to be joined on the front porch by Kate Kingery. Kate works with County Health Rankings & Roadmaps, and she does fascinating work! Her team of researchers studies almost every county in the United States and gives each of these counties a health ranking based on a multitude of different factors. In doing so, they utilize a very broad definition of health, and their data paints an amazing picture of how health is influenced by where we live, learn, work, and play. In this episode, we explore what sort of factors are present within healthy and unhealthy communities, how Kate's team measures these factors, and how neighboring plays a vital role in healthy communities. We hope you find this episode insightful, and if you would like to learn more about Kate's work, visit https://www.countyhealthrankings.org/. Enjoy!